Haeet bentham



H; BENTHAM.

(No Model.)

CAN OPENER.

No. 291,567. Patented Jams; 1.884.

4o it from turning within the slot.

UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

HARRY BENTHAM, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.-

CAN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,567, dated January 8, 1884;

Application filed September 21, 18837 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY BENTHAM, a citizen of the United. States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Gan-Opener and Attachment, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a can-opener having a slotted bar,in which the knife is caused to slide for adjustment in opening cans of dif ferent sizes, and to an adjustable attachment for opening square or rectangular cans, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved canopener. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same, showing the attachment for use upon square cans applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View of the can-opener and its attachment. Figs. 4. 5, 6, and Tare detail views.

Similar letters of reference are used to indicate like parts throughout the several views. A is the slotted bar, provided at the lower end with a forwardly-projecting prod or point, B, for holding the tool in position when passed through the cap or cover of the can to be opened. The knife or cutter G is provided with a beveled blade and square shoulders,

D, which latter slide along the slot from beneath the lower face of the bar. From the knife alsoextends a threaded screw. E, which receives a thumb-nut, F, which engages the screw and presses down upon the upper face of the bar, and thus holds the knifein position at any given point along the line of the slotted bar. WVhen the set-screw is released,

the position of the knife can be changed at pleasure without changing the vertical position of the knife, as the shoulders D prevent The attachment consists of a triangularshaped piece of metal, G, having a hole or opening, G, at the apex thereof, and a transverse slot or opening, H, in the base of the triangle or metal plate, and it also has a longitudinal slot, H, communicating with the transverse slot, as shown. A sharp-pointed needle point or pin, I, is connected to or cast on the lower left-hand corner of the plate,

which, when pressed through the cap or cover of the can, holds the'attachment. or plate in position.

In practice the prod or point of the canopener is thrust through the hole G, and then throughthe cap or cover of the can, and the pin I at the 1eft-hand corner of the plate is pressed down through the cap or cover of the can, and the knife adjusted along the slot, so that the cutting-point will be in line with the slot or opening H in the plate G, when the knife (which is but loosely clamped in place by the thumb-nut F, in order that a slight forward and backward movement may be made along the slot in the arm A) is moved by the handle of the opener from one end of the transverse slot to the other, and quickly cuts that side of the can or cover. From thence the tool is moved successively to opposite sides, until the three sides are out, without releasing the point or prod from the center of the can.

The object in providing the longitudinal slot in the plate G is to permit of holes of varying diameter being cut in round-ended cans without the necessity of removing the attachment from the tool, as it will be readily seen that by aligning the slot H with the slot in the arm A the screw-threaded tang of the cutting-blade O can be moved along the slot either forward or backward, and clamped firmly in position, and thus be adapted to cut openings in cans of different diameters.

It should here be observed that in some cases it will be found desirable to permanently attach the plate G to the slotted bar A.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

In a can-opener, the combination of the slotted bar A, having a handle at one end, and provided at its opposite end with a prod or point, B, the adjustable knife 0, and the triangular plate G, having an opening, G, slots H H, and point I, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

HARRY BENTHAM. [It s.] Witnesses:

WILMER BRADFORD, G. W. M. SMITH. 

